Okay, so John chapter 16 is our
text for this morning, verse 33, the very last verse of it.
You know, when you think about what people want in life, you
know, you think about your friends, your colleagues, what do they
want? They want a measure of excitement,
don't they? They want some thrills. They
want something to be happening. They want experiences. Oh, they
want wealth. Oh, they would love to have some
wealth. They wouldn't say no to that. Oh, and of course health,
but then you take that for granted, don't you? And happiness. We
want all of those things, but you know, Increasingly, I come
across people who say, oh, I just want a quiet life. I don't know
if it's because I'm getting older and I talk to people more my
age. We've been having men round to quote us for doing jobs to
get the work finished on the house. And it's amazing the number
that say, oh, I had such an, I'll summarize, I had such an
exciting life, all sorts of things happening. But then I just decided
I just wanted to come to the seaside and settle down and work
for myself and have a nice, peaceful life. A quiet life, with less
stress. I want an untroubled soul, that's
what I want. I know that some listening, I'm
sure some listening, are going through stressful times. There
are those who are hunting for a house, how stressful can that
be? There are others where there's
family strife, how painful to the heart can that be? There
are financial strictures, all sorts of things that I could
list, and the troubled soul cries out, oh for a peaceful life.
But look in verse 33 of chapter 16, Jesus says to the 11 who
are with him, he says, these things I have spoken unto you
that in me ye might have peace. These things, the things that
he'd been telling them, I've spoken them to you for this purpose,
that you might have peace. Things that he'd said, words
he'd spoken, heard by their ears, understood in their minds, felt
in their souls, would give them a sense of deep peace in the
soul, like a soothing ointment. You know when you've ever had
a very unpleasant sore, a festering sore that's screaming out that
things are not good, and an antiseptic soothing ointment goes on, and
what a lovely feeling of peace it produces. Let me remind you
that this is the final couple of hours that Jesus spent with
them before he went to the cross. In the last bit of chapter 13,
after Judas Iscariot had gone out to betray him, then chapters
14, 15, and 16, and then in 17 we have his high priestly prayer
for them. and then the arrest, and then
the trial, and then he comes to his hour, to his three hours
in fact, the three hours when there was darkness over all the
earth, as he accomplished redemption, as he paid the price to the justice
of God for the salvation of his people. That hour of the cross,
my hour has not yet come, but now it has, it's there, it's
imminent. He said in verse 1 of chapter
16, these things, same idea, these things have I spoken unto
you that ye should not be offended. These things, that you should
not be offended. That reminds me where he speaks
in Matthew's gospel I think it is, blessed is he that is not
offended in me, you know, to the disciples of John, you know,
he said, they came to say, are you the one or should we look
for another one? And he said, look, all the miracles that are happening.
And he said, the gospel is preached to the poor and blessed is he
that is not offended in me. Are you offended in the Lord
Jesus Christ? Let me put it this way. If someone
that you know in a situation asks you, what do you think of
Jesus Christ? What do you think of him? Are
you a follower of him? And they're clearly not, and
they're clearly very opposed to you, and you might have offense
at that. You might not want to say what
truly your heart believes. Are you offended in Him? Are
you made to regret association with Christ and His truth? This
is what he's saying. Peace in the things that He said,
when we believe them and embrace them, and we are not offended
in Him. We're not offended, we rejoice
in Him, we rejoice in Christ Jesus. What is the mark of the
true people of God in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3? We are
the true circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, we rejoice
in Christ Jesus. This is it, to rejoice, not offended
in Him, but rejoicing in Him, and have no confidence in the
flesh. Now chapter 16 is very much consolidation of chapters
14 and 15. He says, I'm going away. He reminds
them, I'm going away. But the comforter will come.
The work of God's kingdom will be greatly extended. This is
what chapters 14 and 15 have said. You've now got sorrow because
I've said I'm going and leaving you, but soon that will turn
to great joy. I've told you, I've told you
that the very works that you've seen me do, that you 11 will
do. And not only that, you'll do
greater works than these. And you have to start reading
the Acts of the Apostles to see that fulfilled. To see the same
works of miraculous healings and raisings from the dead, and
even more than that, preaching. And 3,000 souls, 5,000 souls,
and so on, thousands and thousands of people, pressing into the
Kingdom of God. The eternal purposes of God in
Christ's death and resurrection are about to be sealed eternally. Here it is. Satan is about to
be cast out. His mission is about to be accomplished. He's going to return to the Father.
And at last they understood. Verse 29, look at this. You know,
again and again you read of them dull of hearing and dull of understanding. What's he talking about? His
disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and
speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest
all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee. By this
we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them.
Do you now believe? There, you now appear to believe
clearly. And the summary of it all is
in verse 33. In verse 33, Jesus says this,
and this is our text this morning. These things I have spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace in the world ye shall have
tribulation trouble but be of good cheer i have overcome the
world that's it that's it peace in him Trouble in the world,
but be of good cheer. He has overcome the world. He
assures us of this. These things, these are gonna
be our three points this morning. First of all, peace in Christ. The peace of Christ's disciples,
the peace that he promised to his disciples, the 11 apostles
here, and to all that follow him down the ages, that peace
rests in the things that he has spoken to them. the things that
he's spoken to them, primarily in chapters 14 and 15, and consolidated
in chapter 16. He's said certain things to them
that will give them peace, are the basis of peace. Not just
the academic knowledge of it, Obviously you have to understand
it, but as the Spirit of God, the Comforter, applies the truth
and the power and the effect of these things that He's said
to them, to the soul, it gives soothing peace to the soul. Because
you see the power and the effect of it. Let's remind ourselves
of some of the things that he's spoken to them. These things
I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In
chapters 14 and 15, look in chapter 15. I'm just going to pick some
at random. I'm picking out actually, is
it 5 or 6, 7, 8 of them. I'm picking out 8 of them. In chapter 15 and verse 5, this
is one of the things that Jesus said to the eleven. He said,
I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye
can do nothing. He spoke of the eternal union
there between his people and himself. Life consists in a sequence
of unpredictable events that toss us to and fro, doesn't it?
You know, Harold Macmillan, the Prime Minister of Britain in
the 1950s, was asked by a reporter, what could upset your plans for
your government? And Macmillan replied to him,
events dear boy, events, because things happen unpredictably,
and toss the plans of people to and fro, the best laid plans
of mice and men are not for six, when events happen, they come
along, they make things change in an unpredictable way. it might
be prosperity that they affect, it might be the family, it might
be the career, it might be health, you know, good at one time, these
things, prosperity, family, career, health, and then seeming disaster
the next, but all in the hands of the living God. The multitude
that God loved, everlastingly, before time began, are permanently
unalterably united with God in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. A union that is as permanent
as God is permanent. God is unchanging. I am the Lord,
I change not. Nothing we or any others, or
any devil can do, can change that union. Nothing, height,
depth, any other thing can remove us from the love of God that
is in Christ. Every blessing from God to his people flows
through and because of this eternal union. Get that fact in your
mind. This is the thing, one of the
things that Jesus told, the 11. He tells us, if you're a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is because you are eternally
united with him. From before the beginning of
time, from before there was ever a world, you are united with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Just lie back and rest in peace
in that knowledge. Because whatever might happen
today, is the wind and the rain going to blow the roof off the
house? What's going to happen today? It's a violent day out
here. But is anything going to happen that's going to change
our standing? No. Because it can't. It's as
permanent as God is permanent. God is the author of all life,
the upholder of all things. Outside of Him, nothing exists
or can exist. As He is permanent, so that union
is permanent. Secondly, chapter 15, and verse
16. Here's another of the things,
and note, you could find more, but I'm just picking eight of
them out for now. Ye have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you, and ordained you that you should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, and that whatsoever
ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
The election of God. The election of God. It's not
the election of you. It's not your choosing of God. He said, you didn't choose me,
I have chosen you. God is the one who made his choice. He is the one who said, I will
be compassionate to whom I will be compassionate. I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. It is of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. Not of the free will of man.
The free will of man would never ever choose God, left to itself.
The election of God. These things, this is one of
these things. The election of God is the choice of God. And He cannot change. It's God's
mercy to whom He willed. In Malachi 3, verse 6, He says,
I am the Lord. I change not. Now, what's the
consequence of that? Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. If you're one of Christ's people,
you are amongst those that are called here the sons of Jacob.
That doesn't mean the Jewish people, it means those who have
like faith as Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Those people are not
consumed, it doesn't change, it cannot change. You protest,
this thing of election doesn't give me peace, what if he's passed
me by? Let me respond to that like this.
Do you want to come to God? Do you want to find peace with
God? Well you come via the Lord Jesus
Christ, so come to Him. Can you point to anyone who has
come sincerely to the Lord Jesus Christ and has been turned away?
He said, come unto me, all ye that labour and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. He said, I will in no wise cast
you out. I will in no wise turn you away.
Is that not a cause of peace? The things that I have said unto
you that you might have peace. The election of God. Thirdly,
The fact that redemption, the payment of the debt to the justice
of God, is accomplished. It isn't left hanging open. It
isn't left depending on your decision. It's accomplished.
It's finished. Look at verses 13 and 14 of chapter
15. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are
my friends if you do so whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call
you not servants. You're my friends. He has laid
down his life for his friends. The sin debt of his people is
paid in full. to the demands of the justice
of God in the blood of Christ. It's the blood as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot. The life is in the blood. The
soul that sins, it shall die. He died in the place of the multitude
the Father elected in him before the beginning of time. And therefore,
redemption is accomplished. You say, but what about where
the Bible warns me about judgment to come? What about 2 Corinthians
chapter 5 and verse 10? We must all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ and receive the things done in the body.
Does that not put a great big threatening warning over us that
don't you go presuming, you've got to stand before the judgment
seat of Christ and give an account of the things that you've done
in the body. What about Hebrews 9, 27? It's appointed to man,
that's me, to die once. And then, the judgment. Oh, the
judgment. And don't I read that our God
is a consuming fire? And don't I read that it is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God with
my sin? And don't the alarm bells start
to clang and clang and clang? But listen to this. Romans 8,
33. Remember, the point is, he has
died for his people. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Answer being, of course, nobody.
Why? God has justified his people. Who is he that condemns? Satan
is the accuser of the... Who is he that condemns? Christ
has died in the place of his people. The justice of God is
satisfied on the account of Christ's death. He died, but not only
that, he rather, yea rather, he's risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us, who pleads his shed blood, who pleads the price he paid
at the cross of Calvary for the sins of his people, and the Father's
justice is satisfied. It isn't charismatic experiences,
so claimed, that satisfy the soul. It isn't tongues and miracles,
spurious, all the things that they go chasing after. It's knowledge
of the peace that is procured by the precious blood of Christ.
You know it says again in Hebrews, is it? Hebrews chapter 12. The
blood of Christ speaks better things than the blood of Abel.
You know, Abel was the second son of Adam and Eve, and was
killed by his brother Cain. And his blood was shed. That
was the first human blood shed. And that blood cried out to God
from the ground. What did the blood of Abel speak? What did it cry out from the
ground? It cried out for justice. For sin had been committed. It
cried out for justice. What does the blood of Christ
cry out in the courts of God's justice? It cries out for peace. It cries out for forgiveness.
It cries out that the penalty has been paid. It cries out that
there is no more condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. these things that I have told
you that you might have peace. Fourthly, have you ever worked
for an unpleasant boss? I have, having done many, many
consultancy roles. You come across all sorts. You
come across some people who are very, very easy to get on with
and very reasonable and you want to work. And then you come across
occasionally some of the most unpleasant people that you've
you've ever come across. I remember one chap in particular.
Boy, his objective in life was to make sure that he held all
of the cards in the relationship between my company and his company,
and that he used those cards to make my life as unpleasant
as he possibly could for the three months that I was on that
job. There are some very unpleasant people out there. You know, people
who keep you in the dark and make life unpleasant. They kind
of leave it so that there are traps all over the place for
you to try and work out how to do things. And it leads to serious
psychological torment, to anguish. But the one who is the, I won't
use this word, but if I say the one who has ultimate preeminence,
ultimate preeminence, our God, the God of the universe. You
can go no higher. When he says that in Christ all
the fullness should dwell, that he should have the preeminence,
it means that there is no greater name. There is no greater name
than Jesus. His is the name that is above
every name, and to His name every knee shall bow, both in heaven
and wherever, every knee shall bow. But in chapter 15 and verse
15, henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth
not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends. Here's
the one who is preeminent, calling his people friends. For all things
that I have heard of my father, I've made known to you. There
are no secrets. There are no secrets in this
relationship. He who is preeminent has told
you the secrets of the kingdom of God. And his people, you know,
he says, you're not servants, you're friends. And we go, no,
we are your servants. We're your willing servants.
We're your bond servants. You know that picture in the
Old Testament of the slave that comes to the time when he's served
his seven years, it's the year of Jubilee or whatever, and he
can go free, a free man, and he goes, I love my master. I
don't want to go free. I want to serve my master. And
they pierce his ear with an awl against the doorpost, and a ring's
put in his ear, and he's a willing servant of the living God. And
he's let into the secrets of the business, of the family,
of the firm, everything about it. Proverbs 18 verse 24 says
this, A man that hath friends must show himself friendly, and
there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Oh, does
that give you peace? That the God of the universe,
who is preeminent over all, that that God is your friend by virtue
of redemption and electing grace. John 14 verse 6, this is the
next one, of the things. In John 14 verse 6, that well-known
verse, He said to them, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man comes to the Father but by me. Through faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, we apprehend, we grasp hold of, Him as the way
to God, as the truth of God, as the life of God. And that
life flows into the soul of the believer. We have access into
the Father's throne room. I am the way to God. No man comes
to the Father but by me. There's a story told, and I'll
probably not tell it very well, but of a man who, because of
a matter of justice, was desperate to see President Abraham Lincoln,
who was a very just and reasonable president, and although he ended
up being assassinated, he was greatly loved. And this man desperately
wanted to see Abraham Lincoln, but so did so many other people.
And by chance, by chance, he came across Abraham Lincoln's
son. And Abraham Lincoln's son started
talking to him and heard his story and felt so moved by it. And he said, well, you need to
see my father, but I can't get to see your father. And the son,
of course, without any questions asked, takes the man into the
very room where Abraham Lincoln was, and he sees him. And this
is what Christ does. Does this not give you peace?
We have one, our God is unknowable. He dwells in unapproachable light. No man has seen God at any time
and cannot see God. And yet we have the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is God, who was made flesh, the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, says John, the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. No man, he
says in verse 18 of chapter 1, no man has seen God at any time. Oh, so how do we see God? Ah,
the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father. He
has declared Him. He has manifested Him. He has
made Him known. This is how we come to the Father,
to the preeminent One, to the One above all. Then sixthly,
the provision of a comforter to replace the physical presence
of Jesus in his earthly ministry. Look at chapter 14 and verses
15 to 18. If ye love me, keep my commandments,
and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter,
that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him, but ye know him. For he dwelleth with you and
shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless.
I will come to you. Chapter 15 and verse 26. But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. chapter 16, verses 13 and 14. How be it when He, the Spirit
of truth, is come? He will guide you into all truth.
For He shall not speak of Himself, those who claim charismatic gifts,
etc., take note of this, the Holy Spirit shall not speak of
Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and
He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for he shall
receive of mine and shall show it to you. He said it's expedient
that I go away, in verse 7. So that, whereas he was only
present in one place with those eleven apostles at one time,
the Spirit of God, the Comforter, would be omnipresent. would be
the presence of God everywhere, so that we meet in a room like
this with you out on the internet, and others doing similar things
in meetings all around the world at different times of this day,
and all have the presence of God with them. Because by the
Spirit of God, the Comforter, He's being sent. He is our portion. He is that which we enjoy. He is that which makes the truth
of Christ and the gospel of His grace relevant and personal and
felt by us wherever we are. And what a blessing that is.
Is it not a blessing? Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, you're with me. I'm not alone
there. How? By the Spirit of God, wherever
it is. There the Spirit of God is with
us, omnipresent, eternal. The next point, in verse 19 of
chapter 14, Yea, yet a little while, and
the world seeth me no more. But ye see me, because I live,
ye shall live also. Because he lives, there's the
life of God. Do you fear death? You know,
the natural man, through fear of death, all his life is subject
to bondage. They try and pretend that they're
not, but they are. Read Hebrews chapter 2, the natural
man, through fear of death, all his lifetime is subject to bondage.
But here we have the life of God, who is the very source of
life, who is the very pinnacle of life, flowing through Christ
to us. Because I live, ye shall live
also. The life of God flowing to his
people because of his life. Does that not give you peace?
Does that not give you peace? God's life in your soul. In chapter
14 verses 2 and 3, this is the final one. Heavenly mansions
prepared. He says, I go to prepare a place
for you. You know, what's going to happen?
What happens when we die? What happens when we go through
this portal from this life? And you know, The makers of movies
try to portray it, such as in the film Ghost. They try and
portray shining lights and all, but they don't know what they're
talking about. But here, child of God, listen to this. In my
Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. Heavenly mansions prepared. Oh, I wouldn't think literal
mansions. He's trying to use language to
say, you know, as John says in 1 John chapter 3, it doesn't
yet appear what we shall be, but we know this, that when we
see him we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. But there is the assurance of
our conveyance there by him. These are just some of the things
that He has told us, and them. And this is to comfort us and
give us peace. There's a place for us prepared.
What it will be like, we don't know, but there's a place prepared.
Comfort your souls. Does that not give your soul
peace? What's it going to be like? You know, we're going on,
you book somewhere for a holiday, and off you go with sort of,
you've seen all the fancy pictures, you know, some of these photographers
are incredibly cunning, the way they make places look so much
better than they really are. We have a photographer in the
congregation. But you know what I mean. And you get there and
you think, oh, it's nothing like this. It's dreadful, absolutely
awful. We've had one or two bad experiences
in the past. And you wonder, what's it going
to be like? I tell you, no such anxiety. This is the living God. He's preparing a place for his
people. A place of absolute bliss in
the presence of God. That we might have peace with
these things. Calm in the soul. Untroubled
by fear of eternal condemnation. and separation from all that
is good in God, so that, as I often like to quote, I will both lay
me down and sleep in peace, because thou, Lord, only makest me to
dwell in safety. Psalm 4, verse 8. But, he says,
I've told you these things that you might have peace. In the
world, you shall have trouble. In the world you shall have trouble.
Christ gives his people peace. The world gives trouble to Christ's
sheep. We must stay for a while. Look
at chapter 17 and verse 15. In the prayer, Jesus to his father,
I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but
thou shouldst keep them from the evil. No, he doesn't pray
that his people be immediately beamed up to heaven out of this
world. No, keep them here, but keep
them from evil. And so we have things like Bunyan's
Pilgrim's Progress. What is that all about? It's
about the sojourn in this world, on the road to the celestial
city, on the narrow way. The world's troubles drive his
people back to God again and again. We're not there yet because
of sin in the flesh. We see through a glass darkly,
but the world's troubles and his chastisement drive us back
constantly. The flesh tends to seek a refuge
of lies. Isaiah 28 speaks about this.
You have sought refuge in that which is the lies of this world.
in the kingdom of this world, in the philosophies of... It's
a refuge of lies. The whole world lies in its refuge
of lies. But God sweeps his people out
of that refuge with worldly tribulation. You know, in the same way as
in Revelation 12, the end of it, Satan, when he's defeated,
persecutes the woman in the wilderness. And what does he do? He spews
out of his mouth a flood. And the purpose of that flood
is to try to sweep the woman off her feet, back into conformance
with the world, with his kingdom. But God does the opposite. He
sweeps his people out of that refuge with worldly tribulation,
with trouble that drives us back to God. Mere carnal, fleshly
professors of faith find false peace in the world's lies, just
like the church at Sardis in Revelation 3, in the early verses
there. That church had a name that it
lived, but it was dead, said Christ to them. No, not like
mere professors, But true sheep must return to the true sheepfold
and find what the Scripture calls peace in believing. That's Romans
15, 13. Peace in believing. Sometimes
the world hits hard with blows that hurt. It does. If you've
ever experienced any, and I'm sure you all have, you know it
hits hard with blows that hurt. And sometimes it smiles and it
deceives. Do you know the latter is worse
than the former? At least you know what's going
on when the blows come hard. It's the deception. Beware of
the angel of light, Satan, who comes and deceives. Wolf in sheep's
clothing. But how does the world trouble
believers? You know, we're told to know
your enemy. Well, let me quickly go through these. It entices
with trivia, so that we neglect the fountain of living waters,
doesn't it? I so often think. that those
verses in Philippians chapter 4 about the things that we watch
and think on and read, you know, the TV, think on these things
that are wholesome and good, there's so much that is so evil.
And the world entices with trivia, so that we neglect the fountain
of living waters. We hew out for ourselves cisterns
that can hold no water. Secondly, there are necessary
connections that we have to have with this world. A lot of you
work in the world, I did for all my working life, in business,
in your career, in interactions with the people of this world,
and it all, all tends to distract from fellowship with God. You've
got to do your job, you've got to do things right, you're paid
for your time, you've got to do it. Thirdly, we mostly have
family connections in this world, and that can be a real heart
string puller. It can really pull you in all
directions. The things of this world, so
much. In this world you shall have
trouble. Our senses, you know, eyes and ears, all our senses
bring the world's evil before us constantly. Every day, all
the time, our senses do that. It troubles us, it troubles the
soul that seeks peace with God. There's persecution of all sorts
that comes, mostly psychological in these days. In the past it's
been highly physical. There's a satanic flood, as I've
just said, trying to sweep the people of God back into conformity
with the world. This is all the trouble that
we have in this world. There are even divisions with
fellow believers. Yeah? It's true. I'll give you
an example, Paul and Barnabas. It is perfectly clear in the
Acts of the Apostles that Paul and Barnabas fell out with one
another quite seriously over the issue of whether to take
Mark, Barnabas' nephew, with them on one of the journeys.
But it was solved, there was reconciliation, for Paul writes
about Mark, who is beneficial to me for the ministry. Ill health,
times of ill health, all of these things can bring us trouble and
threaten to disturb our soul peace, but really are chastisement
for our good to bring us back to fellowship with God, because
the world itself can provide no soothing, no amelioration
of the troubles it brings. But don't think like this, that
we've got the peace in the things that Jesus has said to give us
peace in our souls. We've got that on the one hand,
and then we've got the world and the kingdom of Satan trying
to distract. And don't fear a 50-50 battle,
because it isn't a 50-50 battle. Because Christ has overcome the world.
He is victorious over those things. It isn't evenly balanced. Christ
has overcome the world. It is not an evenly matched contest. He says it. Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Be
of good cheer. Rejoice in this. Be happy in
this. He has overcome the world. What
is the world's objective? What is Satan's objective? It
is the destruction of the kingdom of God. It is the elimination
of God's people. It is a kingdom a false peace
without divine justice. We see it all around us in the
world today, attempts to raise up worldwide unity, and it's
all a godless unity based on some notion of utopia without
anything to do with the justice and righteousness of God. And
Satan's objective is to force God, by his own character as
a holy God, who must condemn sin, to condemn the multitude
he loved before time. That is his objective. And the
conflict continues to the end, while we're here, in this flesh,
until we die. But the war is won. Redemption's
price is paid. The citizens of God's kingdom,
that's you and me if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, are
qualified to be there. Nothing Satan can do can take
that away. Who shall bring any charge to
God's elect? Christ has died. The accuser
of the brethren is cast out, Revelation 12. His destiny is
the lake of fire. That's his destiny. There is
a new world. that God is bringing. A new heavens
and a new earth are prepared. Comfort yourselves with these
things and rest in the peace of God which passes all understanding. Amen.